The Elbert Files

“Warren Buffett was a genius.”

Those words came from behind me and were muffled by a face mask. When I turned around I saw the eyes and forehead of my old friend K.C., who had …

During the pandemic lockdown, 78-year-old David Junck, a retired Boone County farmer, did something no one has done in more than 130 years: He built a nearly exact replica of the world’s first functional self-powered …

State government is sitting on a windfall of cash that has piled up during the past year as a result of the COVID pandemic.

It could be as much as $2 billion but is more …

Twenty-five years ago, when Josephs Jewelers celebrated 125 years as a family-owned business, I wrote that education and integrity were its hallmarks.

“The better educated our employees are, the more information they can pass on …

Westbound traffic on Grand Avenue was increasing as I neared 28th Street a little after 4 p.m. on a Wednesday. As I crossed the street, a tall, thin man approached, walking quickly with a straw …

If my father were alive, he would not be happy with a recent report showing Iowa’s bridges are among the worst in the nation, with more than 60% in “fair” or “poor” condition. 

Willis Elbert …

The Iowa Supreme Court’s poor choice of words in its recent dismissal of a high-profile Raccoon River pollution case is striking. 

In refusing to allow the case to proceed to trial, the 4-3 majority …

Republicans and Democrats have their symbols mixed up.

For most of my life, Democrats revered our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, while Republicans cast Abraham Lincoln as their preferred role model.

Today, it makes more sense …

Michael Lewis’s new book “The Premonition” attempts to answer the question: How could a nation that considered itself the best prepared in the world for handling pandemics so badly fumble its response to COVID-19?

His …

When historians look back on the 2020s, one thing they are sure to note is the transportation revolution. 

Those of us at ground level are largely oblivious, but ultimately today’s shifting from gasoline to electric …